Today, virtually everything that most people think they know about solar energy, about the days when only subsidies made solar installations profitable and some generated power with diesel engines at night, is completely obsolete and outdated. The solar energy landscape has changed so much in terms of costs and performance that it requires completely new analyses. Read more here.

ON-FARM SOLAR

Indiana farmers see benefits in on-farm solar power for grain storage systems, contributed by Emergent Solar Energy, PV Magazine. “Every morning a potential energy source rises over the horizon to the east of my farm,” said Will Harlow, owner of the farm. “It seemed a waste to not harness this daily free energy source, erasing some of what I take from the grid. The solar components’ being made in the United States was also important to me. I hope if any positive comes from this pandemic, it is that we must do what we can to get production of all kinds returning to America.”

Contractors Corner: Eagle Point Solar, Solar Power WorldThe Midwest solar market was finally starting to hit its stride before COVID-19 arrived. Still, companies like Iowa’s Eagle Point Solar are optimistic about the future and plenty busy installing a backlog of projects. In this episode of the Contractors Corner podcast, Solar Power World editor-in-chief Kelly Pickerel talks with Larry Steffen, VP of sales for Eagle Point Solar, about how the company is keeping customers interested in solar + storage from afar.

On April 14, the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) petitioned FERC to assert jurisdiction over any on-site, behind-the-meter generation that injects energy onto the grid. If FERC asserts such jurisdiction in the manner requested by NERA, individual states could lose control over their solar net-metering policies — with myriad implications for the U.S. distributed solar market. FERC is currently accepting comments and intervenors from individuals and organizations. The period to comment or intervene ends June 15, 2020.

Ben Huffman is a partner with law firm Sheppard Mullin’s energy, infrastructure and project finance team. Marc Palmer is managing director of New Resource Solutions, a clean energy project facilitator.

To date, UC’s new energy investments have developed and accelerated 9.2 gigawatts (GWs) of wind and solar capacity across all the platforms in which it has invested. Directly attributable to UC Investments’ share of the platforms is 1.47 GWs of wind and solar energy capacity in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and India. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 1 gigawatt of power is comparable to the energy produced by 3.125 million photovoltaic panels or 412 utility-scale wind turbines.

By William Driscoll, PV Magazine

With an all-source procurement, a utility solicits bids to identify the costs of solar, wind and storage, which can be “significantly less expensive than new gas,” as an Indiana utility found. A clean energy group calls for state regulators to require all-source procurements, for the vertically integrated utilities that serve half the country. The report’s authors are offering a webinar to discuss their findings on Thursday, April 30. The report is titled “Making the most of the power plant market: Best practices for all-source electric generation procurement.” The ten case studies are presented in an appendix. The authors are John D. Wilson, Mike O’Boyle, Ron Lehr and Mark Detsky. Read more here.

First Wooden Wind Power Tower Erected In Sweden, Renewable Energy MagazineThe wind towers in wood can be built at a significantly lower cost than steel, which lowers the production cost of the wind power-generated electricity. The carbon dioxide absorbed by trees as they grow is stored in the wooden towers, which means that the wind turbines are climate neutral right from the start.

Sponsored Content by Siemens, Utility Dive

NextEra Energy, North America’s leading wind and solar generator, is adopting an aggressive approach on the falling cost of energy storage by evaluating the addition of batteries to its existing solar facilities. A small but growing number of utilities across the United States are taking a similar approach to NextEra and adding storage at existing solar plants. In doing so, they can claim the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), tap additional revenue streams, and maximize the existing grid infrastructure. Read more here.

A Boom Is Coming for All-Electric Homes Despite Lagging Consumer Awareness, Greentech Media“Electrification technologies are rapidly becoming more cost-effective and more reliable than fossil fuel systems in a variety of planning scenarios and climatic conditions,” Daniel Talero and Neil Strother, research analysts at Navigant Research, wrote in a new report on the global market for “fully electrified home” technologies.

[On March 23rd] the U.S. Department of Energy selected eight teams to participate in the second round of the Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN), a program that supports multi-stakeholder teams pursuing new applications of solar energy and other distributed energy resources in unique locations and contexts. The solutions developed by the teams are demonstrated and validated in real-world contexts, making them ready for replication and scale.

The second round of teams will research innovations to help increase solar energy adoption and resilience in rural communities and at the commercial scale. Their research projects will include resilience solutions that pair solar energy with energy storage, which allows the use of solar energy when the sun is not shining, and microgrids, which can function independently to deliver power in the event of a larger grid outage.

How to get a job building utility-scale solar, PV MagazineAs more utility-scale solar installations are announced in more states, solar contractors are hiring people who are new to the industry, and offering on-the-job training and long-term employment.

Generation 180 Interview

At Generation180, we’re working to inspire and equip individuals to get involved in the energy transition. It’s complex and it’s big. So to provide a better sense of where we’re headed, we’re providing a deeper dive into what’s happening with this transition—where are we right now, how far we’ve come, and, most importantly, where we need to go.

As part of our online Boot Camp project, we recently spoke with Katherine Hamilton, an energy expert with over 30 years of industry experience. Katherine has worked with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and is currently the chair of 38 North Solutions and former co-chair of a World Economic Forum council on advanced energy technology. Here [is] what’s on Katherine’s mind and what she sees as the role of “everyday energy leaders.” Read more here.LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GENERATION 180

Iowa City schools anticipate cutting carbon emissions in half in five years, Iowa City Press-Citizen. Iowa City schools appear on track to reduce carbon emissions by more than 45% by 2030, the goalpost student climate activists have pushed for in Iowa City, according to a consultant’s report. But the report indicated that reducing carbon emissions to a net-zero by 2050, another goal pushed for by climate activists, will require the district to take action.

The Rural Energy for America Program provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase or install renewable energy systems or make energy efficiency improvements.

By Kurt Erickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

In a ruling issued Tuesday, the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District rejected claims that the Public Service Commission had erred in giving a green light in March to the construction of the Grain Belt Express Transmission line. The 19-page ruling is the latest victory for backers of the project, which aims to bring Kansas wind energy east to Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.Read more here.

Minnesota solar installers expect new standard to streamline interconnection, Energy News Network. Minnesota chose to incorporate IEEE 1547-2018, an emerging national standard designed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Several organizations advocated for the standard, including the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. “This establishes modern, clear, and more efficient interconnection standards for distributed generation in Minnesota,” said Sky Stanfield, partner with Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, attorneys for IREC. “It’s good for the grid and distributed generation in the state.”

Letter: Community bankers know a good deal — solar energy, by Howard Leaner, Bismarck Tribune. Howard Learner is executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. The Midwest environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization is engaged in North Dakota, Iowa and South Dakota.

New York is a 2 GW solar state, PV MagazineWith the opening of the Mechanicville Community Solar Project, New York has become the 9th state to install 2 GW of solar. There is, however, no time to celebrate as the state has 5 years to add another 4 GW.

LADWP embarks on hydrogen generation project, American Public Power AssociationThe driving factor behind the decision for LADWP to shut down the coal facility and replace it with another generation source was the city’s adoption of a target to be powered by 55% renewable energy by 2025 and be powered 80% by renewable energy by 2036. In addition, Los Angeles, like the rest of California, faces a target of being powered 100% by clean energy by 2045.

8 schools that went solar in 2019, by Kelsey Misbrenner, Solar Power WorldSolar installations powering K-12 schools are on the rise. Creative financing through PPAs and grants help make these nonprofit installations a possibility, and the benefits are vast: Schools save money on electricity, and students get firsthand experience with solar energy.

By Patrick Smith, American Public Power Association

When it comes to large-scale solar for utilities and municipalities, the Solar Energy Industries Association reports that there are 37,000 MW in operation, with a whopping 74,000 MW additional in development. With such widespread solar adoption, it’s clear that many believe in the power of solar. However, there’s also a lot to understand behind the scenes, which can sometimes lead to misconceptions. Here, we’ll address and correct some of the more common ones. Continue reading here.

Why Is Wind + Storage Getting Short Shrift?, by Chandu Visweswariah, founding president and CEO of Utopus Insights, a New York-based energy analytics company acquired last year by Vestas. Published by Greentech Media. Hybrid plants combining wind, solar and batteries can reliably supply electricity during peak-demand hours, the author writes.

Sol Systems, University of Illinois sign PPA for 12.1-MW solar project, Solar Power WorldThe PPA structure will yield cost savings for the university of approximately $300,000 in the first year and an estimated $5 million over the life of the project. Sol Customer Solutions (SCS), the joint venture between Capital Dynamics and Sol Systems, will design, build, operate, finance and maintain the solar farm for the life of the PPA.

By Ethan Howland, American Public Power Association

Under an omnibus energy and jobs bill that was signed into law on May 31 utilities must assess how energy storage could meet generation and capacity needs as well as provide ancillary services. The bill includes several additional provisions aimed at jump starting energy storage in the state. When seeking to build power plants or power lines, utilities must show that energy storage cannot more cost effectively meet customer demand.

A study released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in June found that a “substantial portion” of peaking capacity in the United States could be replaced by energy storage facilities. The capacity of the national peaking power fleet is about 261 GW and about 150 GW of that capacity is likely to retire over the next 20 years, NREL estimated. That could lead to the potential for about 28 GW of 4-hour battery storage that could serve as peaking capacity, NREL said. Read more here.

Smart Home project to improve home energy use, by Dakota State University, Capital Journal
East River Electric Power Cooperative and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) are creating a mock “smart home” to research energy usage with internet-connected devices.

Bigger, younger coal plants are retiring, PV MagazineAn analysis of coal plant retirements from the U.S. Department of Energy shows that more than 100 GW of coal-fired power plants have already retired this decade, as solar, wind and gas eat coal’s lunch.

Georgia keeps the utility solar train rolling, PV MagazineGround has officially broken on NextEra Energy Resources’ Quitman Solar facility in Brooks County, Georgia, but as exciting as this is, the fact still stands that the only solar Georgia knows is utility.

Southwest Virginia Communities Achieve National Recognition for Advancing Solar Energy Growth, News Release, Appalachian Voices. Eight Southwest Virginia communities have achieved designation under the national SolSmart program for encouraging the growth of local solar energy markets, at a time when several major solar installations on schools, businesses, and community centers are poised to begin across the region. These communities were each awarded a SolSmart designation for taking local action to reduce the time and expense required to install solar energy systems.

By Ken Silverstein, Microgrid Knowledge

Opportunity zones, created in the US as part of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, are making a splash among green energy and microgrid investors. “Opportunity zones create tax incentives for investors in real estate, businesses and assets in areas that might not otherwise draw investment,” says John Beidle, chief executive of New Energy Opportunities, in an interview with Microgrid Knowledge. “The further stacking of tax incentives in these areas for microgrid facilities is really a once in a lifetime opportunity especially if new employment is brought into these areas.”

An Economic Innovation Group analysis estimates $6.1 trillion in unrealized capital gains held by US households and corporations as of the end of 2017. “Even a small fraction of these gains reinvested into opportunity zones would make it the largest economic development initiative in the country,” says John Lettieri, founder of the group, in congressional testimony. Read more here.

Nonprofit Economic Innovation Group (EIG) Image: Opportunity Zones.

EIG is a bipartisan public policy organization that combines innovative research and data-driven advocacy to address America’s most pressing economic challenges. From their headquarters in the nation’s capital, EIG convenes leading experts from the public and private sectors, develops original research, and advances creative policy proposals that bring new jobs, investment, and economic dynamism to U.S. communities.

By Nigel Topping, Contributor, Harvard Business Review

More than 900 global companies representing over $17.6 trillion in market cap are already ensuring that their business strategies are built for growth and emissions reductions through the We Mean Business Take Action campaign. (We Mean Business is a nonprofit coalition of which I am CEO.) This includes over 560 companies that have committed to set ambitious science-based emission reduction targets, and over 175 that have committed to switching to 100% renewable electricity. Beyond that, companies are beginning to use their influence to speed an economy-wide transition by supporting climate policies targeting net-zero emissions by 2050. Others are demanding climate action throughout their supply chains. Read more about the We Mean Business campaign and other initiativeshere.

Nigel Topping serves as CEO of We Mean Business coalition, which harnesses business leadership to drive the innovations and policies that accelerate action on climate change. Previously, Nigel was executive director of CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) and he has 18 years of experience in the manufacturing sector.

Chattanooga Airport now 100% powered by on-site solar energy, Solar Power WorldThe Chattanooga Airport in Tennessee celebrated the completion of the final phase of its 2.64-MW solar farm. The power generated is equal to the airport’s total energy needs. The Chattanooga Airport is the only airport in the nation to now run on 100% renewable energy.